


Morning

by azurefishnets



Series: Multi-Fandom Challenge (100 Days of Fandom) [1]
Category: Chrono Trigger
Genre: 100 Multifandom Challenge, Gen, Mornings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 17:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17513027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azurefishnets/pseuds/azurefishnets
Summary: Mantras and mornings, a rite of protection for her son through time.





	Morning

“Good morning.”

How many times had she said it to her son, ruffling his hair and opening his curtains as the light spilled into his bedroom and the gulls cried? Thousands of times, over the years. She had it down to a routine, a morning ritual, almost a prayer for his safety as he went through his days.

 “Good morning, Chrono!”

The morning he left for the festival, she’d said it. And when he came home that evening, lovely girl in tow, she’d looked past the cuts and scrapes on his face and hands, the face that said he’d been through more than he would ever tell her, and waved her son out the door as he walked the girl home.

The next morning was the first morning in her son’s entire life she hadn’t said it. The news was unbelievable: her son had kidnapped the princess, _twice_ , and disappeared. The days went by. He came home sometimes, bringing more and more unusual companions in tow. Lucca she knew. The robot was almost expected, given her knowledge of Lucca and Taban. The frog was a surprise, as was the barely-clad Amazon Chrono had brought home soon after that. Even the pale-skinned man who frowned all the time was less of a surprise than the doll and the cat.

To each and every one of them, however, especially the cat and even the doll (strange and oddly grotesque as she found it), she opened her home, letting them rest as necessary. To each one of them, she gave the same gentle morning balm with the accompanying wish and hope for their safety. They were her son’s friends. Therefore they were honored guests, no matter the strangeness of them.

“Good morning, Ayla. Good morning, Magus. Good morning, Robo.”

When they showed up without Chrono, she fretted over her son. But they said nothing of consequence to her and so she quelled her worries, fighting down the uneasiness even when they took the strange doll. When he returned, taciturn as ever, she hid her relief, gazing at the sky strangely free of anything but birds (gazing up at the shining bulk of omens here and gone / mornings folding in on each other and looping / the susurrus of time murmuring what was and what would be) and whispering her mantra every morning. Ritual and prayer, balm and protection spell.

And now, at last, she found herself in eternal twilight, the gloom where there was no morning nor evening to guide her and her prayers were for herself as she hung in the timeless instant and waited for her son to save her.

“Good morning.” / “Good morning.” / “Good morning.”

**Author's Note:**

> 100-Multifandom Challenge Entry  
> Prompt 37 - Mornings  
> Fandom - Chrono Trigger


End file.
